A week of relaxation can do a world of good

I have a terrible habit of not taking any holiday until my birthday in September and then realising I still have the rest of my annual leave to book before the end of the year and only three months to fit it in.

While not having a partner or kids to schedule around certainly has benefits in terms of flexibility, on the other hand the only one pushing me to take a bit of time off – which is rarely top of my list of priorities – is myself.

But this year I had cleverly thought ahead and booked last week off so I didn’t find myself in the same jam.

And it couldn’t have come before time.

While bringing you your news every single day might not quite be spending 16 hours a day down pit, spending too long doing anything without a proper break can burn you out. And often you don’t realise how much in need of a break you are until you have some time to unwind.

While weekends or a single day off here and there is always nice, I generally find it difficult to fully disconnect from work mode without a longer break.

So not having to set an alarm for Monday morning was very, very welcome.

While I didn’t really have much actually planned for the week this proved to be the ideal arrangement, allowing me to take a few impromptu days out, catch up with friends and generally recharge my batteries.

The week off coinciding with the annual highlight of the beer festival was also a happy coincidence.

And I wouldn’t be British if I didn’t mention the weather, which, despite Michael Fish and company warning of a washout, was actually very kind.

I did, however, manage to mess up my already-fractious sleep schedule by going to bed far too late and lying in even later, making lugging myself out of bed yesterday morning somewhat more difficult than usual. But I’ve only got myself – and possibly my decision to re-read Alan Moore’s phonebook-sized Jack the Ripper tale From Hell – to blame for that one.

So in conclusion, if you haven’t taken time off recently, I highly recommend it.